8.5 Inch Huawei Prototype Surfaces, It’s Freakin’ Huge!

Eldar Murtazin posted a photo on Twitter that reveals a whopping 8.5-inch Huawei branded prototype. Forgive me for saying this but there are only two words to describe it: holy shit!

At this time, the name of the device is unknown, and neither are the specs. All we have is a picture, but the image is downright appalling. This image could very well be a fake, especially when you take into account the way the phone is being held.

This is just speculation here, but last week Huawei’s Senior VP, Yu Chengdong confirmed that a 6.1-inch 1080p Phablet was in the works. That Phablet was specifically identified as the Huawei Ascend Mate. Sure, 6.1 is nowhere near 8.5 inches, but that’s okay considering Murtazin later stated via twitter that the unknown device might actually be 8.5 inches from edge-to-edge. That would mean the screen is probably around 6.4-6.5 inches.

Still, it suggests that whatever this unknown prototype is, it’s bigger than the Nexus 7! Surprisingly, it’s not a tablet either, it’s an actual smartphone. There’s no doubt that it will be slapped with the Phablet moniker though, especially at that size.

We’ve also been hearing rumors that Samsung is planning to release a 6.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3. If this is true, than you can bet Huawei is working on a device of equal or larger size. Huawei clearly aims to take on Samsung, and Chengdong mentioned so when he talked about the Ascend mate.

When Chengdong talked about the Ascend Mate, he compared it directly to the Galaxy Note 2. He even went so far to say that people should avoid purchasing Samsung’s “grossly overpriced” Note series because Huawei’s own devices will be much cheaper. According to Chengdong, Huawei’s devices will also perform better too. The Ascend Mate will supposedly have a more attractive design, more powerful hardware, longer battery life and a bigger display.

Of course, all of this information is without an official confirmation because Chengdong never actually used the name or model of the device he was referring to.

One particularly striking image comes to mind when I think of holding a device this size up to my ear, just refer to the video below.

What do you think of an 8.5-inch smartphone? Is there anyone out there who would actually use such a thing as a daily driver?